Directed by George Abbott and Stanley Donen
Written by George Abbott and Richard Bissell
1957/USA
Warner Bros.
Repeat viewing/DVD Collection
Seven and a half cents doesn’t buy a hell of a lot,/ Seven and a half cents doesn’t mean a thing!/ But give it to me every hour,/ Forty hours every week/, And that’s enough for me to be living like a king! — Lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross
This musical was a childhood favorite and I still love it.
The workers in an Iowa pajama factory have been petitioning management for a 7 1/2 cent raise. Workers for other companies received this months ago. Management has refused, citing high costs and low profits. As the story begins, Sid Sorokin (John Raitt) is hired as a floor superintendent. He is eager to make good. The workers are uncooperative and he is soon brought before the Grievance Committee headed by Babe Williams (Doris Day). She is a passionate union activist. Obviously, the two will fall in love.
Meanwhile, secretary Gladys Hotchkiss (Carol Haney) is pestered constantly by her jealous boyfriend Hinesy (Eddie Foy Jr.), an efficiency expert. As the workers move ever closer to striking, the relationship between Sid and Babe is threatened. He takes drastic action to achieve a compromise.
As far as I am concerned, this is a practically perfect joyous experience. I feel sorry for the IMDb users who disagree. It has great songs (most famous I think is “Hernando’s Hideaway”) and wonderful choreography by Bob Fosse. I love Day when she is brassy like this. The rest of the cast come from the Broadway show and look like they actually could be factory workers. The production is fairly stagey but I think that suits the story. Recommended for musical lovers.
Day and company sing “I’m Not at All in Love”
Another favorite of my youth. I still have the soundtrack!
Don’t have the soundtrack but I now own the movie! This is another one that was a Million Dollar Movie more than once. I know Damn Yankees and Yankee Doodle Dandy were as well.
Just revisited “Pajama Game.” While the numbers are a bit stagey, the long takes preserve the totality of the original performances. The film is surprisingly dynamic considering it is a “singing musical.” Tomboy Doris is at her best. And, it is wonderful that Carol Haney’s performance has been preserved for history. It is hard to beat “Steam Heat.” Pure Bob Fosse. The use of color in costume and set design is terrific, especially in Doris’ reprise of “Hey There.” The shift from green to red, motivated by the RR light, reminds me of the transformation scene in “Vertigo.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ljhfHzi2so
I love this movie more than I possibly ought to. Other winners for Doris were “I’m Not at All in Love” and her duet “There Once Was a Man”. She just tilts her head back and belts. So unlike her other singing but fantastic as well.
“I’m Not at All in Love” is a terrific number. There is a moment, when Doris is on the cart, where she appears to break character — just for a moment — a glimpse out of the frame. She had the stuff for “Annie Get Your Gun.” Wrong studio and timing a bit off.
She was close to the Annie character in Calamity Jane, which I also love.